Home | Ezine | Forums | Links | Contact
NitroExpress.com: Bells Rigby 303

View recent messages : 24 hours | 48 hours | 7 days | 14 days | 30 days | 60 days | More Smilies


*** Enjoy NitroExpress.com? Participate and join in. ***
You are not logged in. [Login] Main Index · Search · Active Topics
New user · Who's Online · FAQ · Calendar

Shooting & Reloading - Mausers, Big Bores and others >> Lee Speed Forum & Archive
Previous topic Previous   View all topics Index   Next topic Next   Threaded Mode Threaded  

Pages: 1
VonGruff
.400 member


Reged: 08/02/09
Posts: 1119
Loc: South Otago, New Zealand.
Bells Rigby 303
      #139780 - 30/07/09 04:21 AM

This is not necessarily a Lee Speed question but thought the knowledgable authorities here would be the best people to ask.
I saw a photo of the Rigby 303 once that Bell had in Africa before he went on to other calibers( or it may have been made after he had a bit of sucess and better finances) and thought it was the best looking 303 I had ever seen but can no longer find the copy of the magazine it was in. Would be most gratefull if someone had a copy they could post along with any relevant detail.

Von Gruff.

Post Extras: Print Post   Remind Me!   Notify Moderator  
kuduae
.400 member


Reged: 13/01/10
Posts: 1775
Loc: middle of Germany
Re: Bells Rigby 303 [Re: VonGruff]
      #151325 - 21/01/10 10:18 AM

Here is the small b+w from Bell's last article "Small Bores Versus Big Bores" in the dec 1954 issue of the "American Rifleman"


--------------------
German foresters: We like sustainability! For merely 300 years by 2013.

Post Extras: Print Post   Remind Me!   Notify Moderator  
VonGruff
.400 member


Reged: 08/02/09
Posts: 1119
Loc: South Otago, New Zealand.
Re: Bells Rigby 303 [Re: kuduae]
      #151361 - 21/01/10 07:23 PM

Thanks kudaue, that is a good pic. I did have a bit of feed back on another forum and it was suguested that the pic I had seen may have been a generic sporting 303 to ilistrate an artical. It was also suguested that Fraser probably made one or more of Bells 303 sporting rifle as they were contempories and friends. I had assumed it was a Rigby as he had them build, I think, 3 275 Rigby'

Von Gruff.

Edited by VonGruff (21/01/10 07:27 PM)

Post Extras: Print Post   Remind Me!   Notify Moderator  
kuduae
.400 member


Reged: 13/01/10
Posts: 1775
Loc: middle of Germany
Re: Bells Rigby 303 [Re: VonGruff]
      #151405 - 22/01/10 07:45 AM

In his books, Bell did not mention the make of his .303, so I think it was a standard BSA make Lee-Speed. His primary elephant rifle was a short-barreled light .276 Rigby Mauser. He exclusively used German DWM 173gr rn fmj loads, "it's barrel never polluted with soft noses".Here is the picture from his article, but apparently it shows a later, 1930s, such rifle.



The 6.5x54 Mannlicher-Schoenauer supplied by Fraser he tried on elephant he describes as a short, full stock carbine. He praised Fraser for hollowing out the stock to save weight, but this is a Steyr factory feature on 1903s.
His "meat" rifle he describes as a .256 "Old model Mannlicher by G.Gibbs" he most often used as a single-loader for the lack of chargers. He never used it on elephant because he had only soft-nose cartridges, but it slew vast numbers of "plains game from giraffe and buffalo down to feed himself and his safari of more than 100 native bearers. This Mannlicher must have looked like the one below, also by Gibbs 1899.



--------------------
German foresters: We like sustainability! For merely 300 years by 2013.

Post Extras: Print Post   Remind Me!   Notify Moderator  
Pages: 1


Previous topic Previous   View all topics Index   Next topic Next   Threaded Mode Threaded  

Extra information
0 registered and 26 anonymous users are browsing this forum.

Moderator:  NitroX 

Print Topic

Forum Permissions
      You cannot start new topics
      You cannot reply to topics
      HTML is disabled
      UBBCode is enabled

Rating:
Topic views: 4163

Rate this topic

Jump to

Contact Us NitroExpress.com

Powered by UBB.threads™ 6.5.5


Home | Ezine | Forums | Links | Contact


Copyright 2003 to 2011 - all rights reserved